CALmatters is a Sacramento-based nonpartisan, nonprofit journalism venture committed to explaining how California's state Capitol works and why it matters. It works with more than 130 media partners throughout the state that have long, deep relationships with their local audiences, including Embarcadero Media (publisher of the Palo Alto Weekly, Mountain View Voice, Pleasanton Weekly and The Almanac in Menlo Park and their websites.)

Here are the most recent stories reported by CALmatters' team of journalists:

Gov. Gavin Newsom needs legislators to begin the uncomfortable work of making changes to our infrastructure, our policies, and yes, our liability laws, so that we can build a state meets the current challenges of climate change while reducing its impact in the future.

California has a severe housing crisis but it's compounded by the high price of building or even rehabbing low-cost housing.

PG&E's bankruptcy in 2001 and the one to come are at once similar and very different. But we did learn lessons the hard way in 2000 and 2001. Having lived through the last bankruptcy, my suggestion to policymakers is to slow down and conduct a thorough analysis to fully understand the nature of the problem.

San Francisco automatically sets up college savings accounts for every kindergartner in its public schools. If Governor Gavin Newsom gets his way, the model could soon roll out to other cities across California.

A strike by Los Angeles Unified School District teachers and Pacific Gas and Electric's announced intention to declare bankruptcy are symptoms of a larger malady of arrogance and irresponsibility by large institutions.

What if Donald Trump had used those nine minutes, or even a portion of them, to convey a different message, one that reminded us of what binds us rather than what separates us, reminded us to help those, as the song says, who are walking on the boulevard of broken dreams? What if?

Highlighting all of CALmatters' work over the past week

The California Air Resources Board has adopted an aggressive regulation, baking in higher consumer and industry costs in the hope of squeezing out more emission reductions. This approach not only flouts the express will of the Legislature, but undermines the moral authority for engaging in state-level greenhouse gas regulation.

A collection of commentaries by Dan Walters over the past week.

Good morning, California. Gov. Gavin Newsom and Jennifer Siebel Newsom, their four kids, two dogs and one rabbit won’t live in the Governor’s Mansion after all, The Sacramento Bee reports. Instead, they’ll move a few miles from downtown Sacramento to what Realtors called a “sophisticated Santa Barbara Montecito styled home” with a wine cellar, pool, […]

PG&E customers shouldn't have to foot the bankruptcy bill if the utility is responsible for deadly California wildfires, says a state watchdog.

A quarter-century after California elected Sheila Kuehl as its first openly gay or lesbian legislator, its LGBT caucus has a series of successes and a to-do list for the future. Said Kuehl: “You don’t get any respect unless you’re in the room where it happens. And that is symbolic sometimes but it is noticed by society—because you’re making policy for your community as well as for everybody else.”

For many people outside Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Unified School District strike might seem far away, with little relevance to their daily lives. But the strike hits closer to home than you might think.

If our government is going to truly prioritize housing all Californians, cities and counties must be required to put a significant portion of any incentive funding from the state toward directly supporting the production of homes at levels affordable to people most in need.

Report for America, the national service program that places journalists in under-covered communities, is funding three reporters for an ambitious effort focused on California’s worst-in-the-nation poverty rate and the growing divide between the state’s rich and poor. The project brings together CALmatters, McClatchy’s five California news organizations and the 25 Digital First newsrooms across the […]

Good morning, California. “In broad terms, this is about much more than pay. This is about the soul of our schools and the way L.A. does or does not build a culture to collectively invest in our future.”—Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, as a strike by teachers continued against the Los Angeles Unified School District. […]

Californians who like the idea of getting more paid time off work to care for a new baby may find good news and bad news in the details of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed budget.

The 2018 election was hailed as the "Year of the Woman," but California still lags behind its Western neighbors and many other states when it comes to female representation. Among the ideas to boost the number of elected women: let campaigns pay for child care.

An investigation commissioned by the California Assembly found that former California Assemblyman Sebastian Ridley-Thomas of Los Angeles, who resigned abruptly in 2017 citing health problems, likely harassed at least two legislative staff members while he was in office.

The governor put the surplus into three buckets: $3 billion for education and social services, $8.5 billion in one-time spending and $10 billion to build what he is calling “budget resiliency.”

As legislators resume discussions regarding policy solutions, we must be clear: California’s environmental regulations did not cause the housing crisis and eviscerating the California Environmental Quality Act would harm disadvantaged communities.

Good morning, California. “It’s why I took the job. By the way, we will get through this and we will come out stronger on the other side.”—Gov. Gavin Newsom, asked how he’s feeling about dealing with the L.A. teachers’ strike and the impending bankruptcy of the state’s largest utility. Newsom: Bankruptcy doesn't mean blackoutsNewsom tackles […]

On the first day of a massive LA teachers' strike, Gov. Gavin Newsom pressed for legislation adding more “transparency” to the state’s 1,200-plus charter schools—a point of contention between the LA district and the union.

Talk is underway about putting a law on the books that would bar California landlords from raising rent beyond a certain percentage.

After a political "Year of the Woman," what percentage of California's new legislature is made up of women? With Latinos a plurality of California, are they a plurality among state legislators? Who's over-represented compared to their share of the adult population? Who's under-represented by the same metric? Watch to see how these lawmakers' demographics stack up agains the state as a whole.

Good morning, California. Choose your crisis. California’s largest school district is set to strike, California’s largest utility is signaling bankruptcy and President Trump is threatening to divert emergency aid from California to fund his border wall. Can PG&E be saved?PG&E crews remove fire-damaged power lines in Paradise.Expect Gov. Gavin Newsom to respond quickly if, as […]

Gov. Gavin Newsom's proposal to pay down pension liability would save California school districts an estimated $50 per students. It wasn't enough to head off the Los Angeles teachers strike, but districts are welcoming it anyway.

Highlighting all of CALmatters' work over the past week

Los Angeles teachers are set to strike Monday despite a fresh offer from California's largest school district after Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed freeing some $40 billion at Los Angeles Unified School District by paying pension debt. The strike would impact more than a half-million students and their families.

Yosemite was a refuge where I could momentarily escape thoughts of petty politics and news of the day that typically consume most of my waking hours as a journalist. This time, though, a political stunt encroached into this natural refuge.

Gov. Gavin Newsom's budget proposal provides a good sense of his priorities to combat what he has called “the issue when it comes to California poverty”—affordable housing.

As California looks to build the ramp that will help young people from disadvantaged backgrounds cross the opportunity gap, it is critically important that early educators fighting to give our kids a stronger future have a voice in building the system that best serves children and families. That’s why this year we at Service Employees International Union will continue our fight for legislation allowing us to form a union.

California chronically fails in using technology to improve state government operations, but Gov. Gavin Newsom is trying to fix it.

In one of his first official actions, Gov. Gavin Newsom has directed that state agencies, including the one that oversees Medi-Cal, negotiate as a block to demand prescription drug makers lower their prices. The move will make California the nation’s largest negotiator against pharmaceutical companies and could become a model for other states—if it works.

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /var/www/vhosts/embarcaderopublishing.com/calmatters/index.php:64) in /var/www/vhosts/embarcaderopublishing.com/class/class.login.php on line 264
Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /var/www/vhosts/embarcaderopublishing.com/calmatters/index.php:64) in /var/www/vhosts/embarcaderopublishing.com/class/class.login.php on line 265
Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /var/www/vhosts/embarcaderopublishing.com/calmatters/index.php:64) in /var/www/vhosts/embarcaderopublishing.com/class/class.login.php on line 266
Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /var/www/vhosts/embarcaderopublishing.com/calmatters/index.php:64) in /var/www/vhosts/embarcaderopublishing.com/class/class.login.php on line 267
Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /var/www/vhosts/embarcaderopublishing.com/calmatters/index.php:64) in /var/www/vhosts/embarcaderopublishing.com/class/class.login.php on line 264
Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /var/www/vhosts/embarcaderopublishing.com/calmatters/index.php:64) in /var/www/vhosts/embarcaderopublishing.com/class/class.login.php on line 265
Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /var/www/vhosts/embarcaderopublishing.com/calmatters/index.php:64) in /var/www/vhosts/embarcaderopublishing.com/class/class.login.php on line 266
Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /var/www/vhosts/embarcaderopublishing.com/calmatters/index.php:64) in /var/www/vhosts/embarcaderopublishing.com/class/class.login.php on line 267
Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /var/www/vhosts/embarcaderopublishing.com/calmatters/index.php:64) in /var/www/vhosts/embarcaderopublishing.com/class/class.login.php on line 264
Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /var/www/vhosts/embarcaderopublishing.com/calmatters/index.php:64) in /var/www/vhosts/embarcaderopublishing.com/class/class.login.php on line 265
Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /var/www/vhosts/embarcaderopublishing.com/calmatters/index.php:64) in /var/www/vhosts/embarcaderopublishing.com/class/class.login.php on line 266
Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /var/www/vhosts/embarcaderopublishing.com/calmatters/index.php:64) in /var/www/vhosts/embarcaderopublishing.com/class/class.login.php on line 267
Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /var/www/vhosts/embarcaderopublishing.com/calmatters/index.php:64) in /var/www/vhosts/embarcaderopublishing.com/class/class.login.php on line 264
Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /var/www/vhosts/embarcaderopublishing.com/calmatters/index.php:64) in /var/www/vhosts/embarcaderopublishing.com/class/class.login.php on line 265
Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /var/www/vhosts/embarcaderopublishing.com/calmatters/index.php:64) in /var/www/vhosts/embarcaderopublishing.com/class/class.login.php on line 266
Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /var/www/vhosts/embarcaderopublishing.com/calmatters/index.php:64) in /var/www/vhosts/embarcaderopublishing.com/class/class.login.php on line 267
Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /var/www/vhosts/embarcaderopublishing.com/calmatters/index.php:64) in /var/www/vhosts/embarcaderopublishing.com/class/class.login.php on line 264
Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /var/www/vhosts/embarcaderopublishing.com/calmatters/index.php:64) in /var/www/vhosts/embarcaderopublishing.com/class/class.login.php on line 265
Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /var/www/vhosts/embarcaderopublishing.com/calmatters/index.php:64) in /var/www/vhosts/embarcaderopublishing.com/class/class.login.php on line 266
Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /var/www/vhosts/embarcaderopublishing.com/calmatters/index.php:64) in /var/www/vhosts/embarcaderopublishing.com/class/class.login.php on line 267